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Monday, June 15, 2015

My oh My!!! Where does the time go!! A friend told me the other day, "Tomorrow isn't even here yet, and it's already gone!!!!" I never believed my grandmother when she said that time flew the older you get!! My oh My!!!!

Again (I think I've said that way toooooo much!) I've sure been hit and miss on blogger! I do try to drop by a couple times a week and read up - but my oh my where's does the time go!!!

I have been stitching a bit and I've finished up 3 gift quilts (all lap size) in the past few weeks. The first is a Friendship Star (of course!!! LOL) for a friend who moved. This was a spur of the moment gift, but it went very quickly and must say that ALL the fabrics came from the scrap box or my stash!!!

I think if you click on the photos it enlarges and you can see some more of my "practice" designs. I FMQ a new design (for me) in the sashing and did an enlarged sparkling star in the border.

The second quilt was one that I had originally pieced for myself. A couple of years ago I bought a bag of scraps (for $3) at our guild stash sale. I saw a quilt in a magazine and loved it, so used that block pattern - it is a Sister's Choice Variation. I added the neutral background fabrics and bought the border fabric to coordinate. Then it got stuck in a box to quilt later. In January when my high school friend visited me, I decided that she needed this quilt. I had no biological sisters and we always considered ourselves sisters, so thought the pattern was appropriate. I will deliver it to her when we next visit (hopefully this summer or early fall).

Simple FMQ with my favorite go to free form flower. I did try a new border design - bunting inspired by Lori of The Inbox Jaunt.

The third is a high school graduation gift for a daughter of dear friends. She will be attending Texas A&M this fall, so I chose school colors - Maroon & White - I used the gray to add a little flare. I also did the straight line quilting with silver metallic thread to add a little "bling"! Simple swirls in the maroon rectangles finished off the simple quilting. This was a Disappearing Nine Patch block - so quick and easy! And another that I made completely from my scraps and stash!! Yeah!!

I leave you with a photo of Gracen, our granddaughter. Our computer sits under our stairs and she stopped to visit with me while I was typing up this post!

Monday, April 6, 2015

Though I've been away from blog land, I have been stitching. Here are some of my small quilt finishes!

For Valentine's I made 5 small quilts (one for myself and one for each of my 4 girls) using the nine patches that I had sewn up for a previous project but didn't use and this sweet valentine fabric! Here's the one I made for my oldest daughter. It was available for photos because Gracen uses it for her Dolls!

In the past I have participated in several of Lori's SALs and I finally finished a couple.

This one I finished in time for a Christmas gift for Gracen.

The back with one of my "go to" FMQ designs - free hand Baptist Fans.

And this one which has been in my flimsy pile for quite some time. Nice to get it finished.

Simple diagonal line quilting in the red center squares and one of Lori Kennedy's free FMQ designs: sparkling stars - in the borders.

Several years ago I bought a lot of vintage quilt blocks on ebay, and I took these and made a table topper for my kitchen work table.

I'm sure that many of you have noticed that several bloggers have been making a quilt a month from one of their books and patterns. I've thought about doing that, but just haven't purposed to do it - several other UFOs/WIPs taking precedence. But Kathleen Tracey posted a small quilt from one of her books that I just happened to have. I changed up the color scheme a bit and I also call it "Instant Gratification" - I saw, wanted to make it, so I did. All in a couple of days!

Finally, a couple of months ago, I won our guild's monthly block exchange which were basket blocks - any size, any style, any color. I've opted to make small quilts/projects from them. There were two 4" blocks and I made pincushions from them and donated them back to the guild for a fund raiser. I chose one block (which I made) to make a table topper for my coffee table.

From another block (which I DID NOT make - isn't it beautiful!) I made this pillow. It measures about 8" square.

I'm offering this as a giveaway. So if you would like to receive this cute little treasure, just leave a comment saying so. If you are a no-reply blogger, please leave me an email, so I can contact you if you win.

Friday, April 3, 2015

...YEP, you know me, if it is a star I'm gonna join in!!!! I really hadn't planned to, DIDN'T need to, SHOULDN'T have, but just couldn't pass up making more star blocks. I'm not sure if I will do it all year long, as my plans are to make blocks from my CW fabrics and when they run out - well I'm done!

Turkey Reds

Prussian Blues

(okay, so maybe my blues kinda ran...)

Pinks

Cheddars

Madder Reds/Browns

Indigos

Greens

Purples

Foulards

I didn't do "Shirtings" as I'm setting my 6" stars on point and putting them in a box of the same background fabric which is lights/shirtings etc. I didn't have any Over Dyed Green, nor Chrome Yellow.

Friday, March 27, 2015

Remember me???? I'm now considered a "lurking blogger". I occasionally lurk around blog land, leave a comment once in a while and then disappear again! I'm amazed/intimidated/humbled by those of you who can put together a post once a week. Now those of you who post every day - do you even sleep!!!!!

I have been stitching and have several finishes to share, but first I wanted to share the new addition to my sewing room. Her name is "Black Beauty" and she was "born" March 31, 1891. She was originally a treadle machine, but was converted to electricity later in her life. We are just getting acquainted but I'm am very excited she is here with me. I have wanted a Singer Featherweight for a couple of years, but really haven't pursued finding one, just occasionally perusing flea markets, antique fairs, etc, so when I saw Beauty, I had a nice conversation with the gentleman who had her displayed at his flea market booth. I walked away, but I couldn't stop thinking about her. I did some research on-line and found that she was really a treasure and I would love to do some piecing on her. It was a full month before I returned to the flea market (it is open two weekends a month) and imagine my dismay when Beauty wasn't sitting on his display table. But I asked if him if he remembered me and if he still had the machine and he said "of course" on both counts. We traveled to the gentleman's home the next day and tried her out. She needs the electric cords replaced, but let me tell you - she purrs like a contended mama cat!

I really didn't realize that sewing machines from this era had such beautiful decals until I pieced a jigsaw puzzle of sewing notions that my daughter gave me for my birthday. After I pieced it, I mounted it in a frame and put it in my sewing room. It isn't a great photo, but you can see the four machines in the puzzle.

Her carrying case isn't pretty, but very sturdy and functional. I really don't plan to carry her around much, as I was to build a table cabinet just for her.

Friday, December 19, 2014

Just a short note to wish each of you, my dear friends a blessed time with your families and loved ones during this wonderful holiday season!

I've had camera/computer issues, so am unable to post any photos of my quilting activities. But several of my friends have posted some of my recent finishes. So if you don't mind following links, here is a tour of my projects!

My new passion/project (like I needed another!!! LOL) is knitting. I've been doing simple projects, but hope to venture into mittens and socks next year. I'll post photos when the camera/computer issue is resolved!

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

I haven't done a SAL in aaaaaaggggggeeeeesssss! So when I was reading Maureen's blog post about Lori's latest SAL, I jumped right in - well almost - I didn't start until this morning but I'm all caught up!

I don't just have a baggie of 1 1/2" squares, I have a whole box full. In fact, at the present not counting Lori's SAL, I have 2 other projects going using these small squares - plus a third one in the planning. So, what's one more!!! LOL

I delved into my trusty box and also cut a few from the current scrap box and set the needle to flying.

Thanks Lori for hosting the SAL and thanks Maureen for inspiring me to participate!!

Blessings to all. I know that most of us are in a cold snap, so stay warm!!